Tigers Prowling in the Twilight

Welcome to the Monday edition of the socially distant Mark Steyn Show with an audio Coronacopia of news and comment, plus Obama's concern for the rule of law four years too late, a Wanker Commonwealth Cop, Your Monday Mohammed, tigers and torturers, and the general crepuscular vibe.

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105 Member Comments

On the unmasking of NSW Wanker Cops' tyranny, Mark said it best elsewhere: "a disturbing descent by free nations into utterly repulsive authoritarianism and the repudiation of core freedoms".

It's literally a boot stamping on a human face. It will be difficult to roll back, so it may be "forever".

Segnes Schonken Kate Smyth • May 13, 2020 at 16:00

For sure, K. Consider what taking an aeroplane flight involves nowadays, and what the average paying customer must endure from petty officialdom as a matter of routine.

Chris Lacy • May 13, 2020 at 03:00

It took a while for the original revolutionaries in 1770s to finally draw the line. Do not despair Mark, Americans will always rise up against tyranny. Sic Semper Tyrannus.

Walt Trimmer • May 12, 2020 at 19:03

I received an email from a High School friend asking me about a community wide random ChiCom-19 testing program going on in my fair town. Such is the state of local news in the Internet Age, someone from Illinois heard it on NPR and I was clueless. Lo and behold, in a couple of hours there was a knock on my door and two masked and gloved people were asking me to participate. They left a testing kit in a zip lock bag on my porch and backed slowly away. I did the nasal swab and the process was reversed. The procedures were super safe because they are working with our veterinary college.

I will know my results in about a week but currently the results are running about 500:1 negative-positive. After being in a nearly year-long house arrest I think I know the results but it is important to participate so as not to skew the random results. This is actual SCIENCE.

Fran Lavery Â • May 12, 2020 at 16:22

Mark, this shutdown is getting pretty tough. I just realized we haven't seen your rugged good looks for going on two months. Any chance of getting a Coronacopia show done on Zoom? I was reluctant to do it until I heard we can turn the camera off from our end. That would just provide a glimmer of joy and delight for us shut-ins out here. It's not asking for the moon, is it?

Mark DeBiasi • May 12, 2020 at 15:21

For a rational discussion of the societal costs of the lockdown see Peter Robinson's third interview with Dr. Jay Bhattacharaya. A key point of the discussion is the enormous extent to which the lockdown has adversely impacted public health by making healthcare less available for every condition other than Covid 19. Specific health threats include an estimated incremental increase in suicides of 75,000 and 1.4 million cases of tuberculosis in India going untreated. Dr. Bhattacharaya concludes that there is "no safe option"; more aggressive measures against Coronavirus in the way of lockdown will inevitably produce more deaths and suffering from other diseases.

Walt Trimmer • May 12, 2020 at 14:53

My ideas are flowing during house arrest and this economic shutdown is serious business. I may have a solution: a placebo vaccine! The Kate Smyth's of the world will whine that this would be immoral, so we would have to put a warning label on the vaccine saying that it is not for seniors and those with underlying conditions and that a in a few rare cases people may come down with symptoms that are very much like ChiCom-19 but everyone could go back to work.

I think $100 million is a fair price for my idea. If I charged nothing people would think it was not real. Maybe I should charge more so that the price tag is so high people are outraged at my greed so they don't pay attention to the nostrum itself. It's for the good of mankind.

Walt Trimmer Walt Trimmer • May 12, 2020 at 15:19

PS. Keep this under your hat.

RAC Walt Trimmer • May 12, 2020 at 16:30

I've long since given up any hope of a rational response to this pandemic. Here in the supposedly red state of Arizona our tyrannical health dept. just issued 17 new regulations for any restaurant brave enough to open under these times of mass hysteria. At present these are just strong recommendations but there is already talk of codifying 15 of these into law. The worst of them is restricting seating to 50% of capacity and all of those patrons must call ahead before being allowed inside. Our health dept.has been very busy re-classifying previous pneumonia and related deaths as Covid-19 so the AZ totals went from 362 to almost 550 virtually overnight. No explanation of the criteria used was explained or requested by anyone. Just shut the hell up and obey - we're the Health Dept!! The WHO is now strongly pushing contact tracing worldwide and many western countries are quickly following in line. I introduced this seemingly Orwellian idea to this site more than 5 weeks ago upon reading that Google and Apple were almost ready to go with this new smart phone app. Things are moving at such a dizzying rate now Walt that it's difficult to keep up. I wonder if any of these power mad health
'experts' gave a moments thought about what losing half of your business on those key busy Fri. and Sat. evenings would mean to the bottom line. The latest poll reveals that 55% of Americans oppose these freedom demonstrations taking place nation wide. I can't say I'm surprised in the least. You're pretty much a lone voice lost in the wilderness now Walt and it's getting very lonely out here.

Segnes Schonken Walt Trimmer • May 12, 2020 at 17:05

You're in splendid form, troll, I mean, W. Brilliant: cracked me up.

And I think it would work!

Unfortunately, the grand-children did the monopoly set in, so I can't pay your fee, but be assured that I would if I could!

Walt Trimmer Segnes Schonken • May 12, 2020 at 18:39

You misunderstood me, S. Individuals don't pay the $100 mil, the government does. The funds have been included in the $10 Trillion dollars that have already been appropriated or in the upcoming ChiCom-19 Response Bill No. 4, if necessary. Of course, the vaccine will be given away to everyone free of charge as is the norm in these new days of Socialism T'is Us. You have given me valuable insight that I am not planning to charge enough and what am I to do about international franchising? Deepest Thanks!

P.S. My vaccine will be only slightly less effective that the official one that comes out in a year or two, so why wait?

Segnes Schonken Walt Trimmer • May 12, 2020 at 20:01

I'm sure the government hasn't let the little ones into the monopoly set, W., so your chances are good. Mind you, it's not difficult to picture the civil service executives sitting shoeless on the rug, squabbling around the monopoly board, some hiding the cards and others sulking, while one demands re-throws of the dice and another snaffles all the sweets.

And why wait, indeed? They didn't pause even for the most fleeting of thoughts.

Andy RAC • May 12, 2020 at 22:06

Those are the 55% that don't understand that "half your business" eventually means half the shopping center owner's rent, half his mortgage payment to the bank, half the real estate taxes ( the half that didn't default and have their property split between the bank & the city), half the money the bank borrowed from the Fed, and so, half your Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Government Pension and VA benefits, food stamps and, eventually, everybody's food. You have to make something or provide a service someone is willing to freely pay for or it's a death spiral.

Kate Smyth Walt Trimmer • May 13, 2020 at 00:07

Err, Walt - I never said your let-it-rip plan was "immoral", I said it was _third world_ (in the 21st century). I first said it around the time you were whining about having the plug pulled (and RAC was saying "the panic is justified").

KS, March 31: "The dilemma [re healthcare collapse] would not have existed during uncontrolled pandemics before the era of modern healthcare: live or die, with nothing in between - which is how Covid-19 will sweep through the developing world."

That said, I think there's real merit in the placebo vaccine (with exclusions and warnings). Very smart! Perhaps market it after trial use by the US military, given that any person ever hospitalised with Covid-19 is now "permanently disqualified" from enlisting.

Kate Smyth Walt Trimmer • May 13, 2020 at 00:18

"P.S. My vaccine will be only slightly less effective that the official one that comes out in a year or two, so why wait?"

You're right about that. But Bill Gates & Co were onto the idea before you.

Kate, can you please remind me of that article you recently recommended we read? You mentioned in a couple places and I thought I copied to save and read! Now it's not where I thought I copied it. Thanks, if you do find it.

Walt Trimmer • May 12, 2020 at 14:43

I've come up with a plan to replace Steyn Cruises altogether. Pretty soon Joe Biden won't need his No Malarkey bus and you can pick it up for a song. With a little creative spray paint work you can cross out "la", insert "St" and add an "n" and then go on a whistle stop tour of North America. Diesel is going to be cheap and you can stop to entertain Club Members in small, socially distant groups. You could even do drive by waves for individual Clubbers. The ticket prices would have to be pretty high but what else do we have to spend our money on?

As to the international MSC'ers, cattle boats are still sailing.

Segnes Schonken Walt Trimmer • May 12, 2020 at 17:07

I have found the tiger prowling in the twilight and its name is Trimmer!

Fran Lavery Segnes Schonken • May 12, 2020 at 18:29

Shutdown is sneaking up on all of us, huh? I was wondering who would be the first to crack. I thought it would interesting to document a nervous breakdown and even to pursue a conversation that traced one. Thought it would be me after week five as I reached about episode 15 of Defoe's vivid descriptions of the plague year and the unfinished masks piled up on my dining room table. All those unprotected people out there because of my dragging my foot to the pedal Then we watched "The Twelfth Man" and I realized I didn't know what torture waiting could be. Then the nightmares began.

Andrew A Fran Lavery • May 12, 2020 at 18:42

Fran,

I too am starting to "lose it". The Canadian government websites are recommending the wearing of "non-medical masks" when in public. What is a "non-medical mask" ?? They don't explain.

I've taken to wearing bandit bandannas over my face in public, and have an assortment of desert shemaghs on order ... Sufficiently non-medical for the corona cops, you say?

Segnes Schonken Fran Lavery • May 12, 2020 at 20:03

You're in great nick, F. You're cracking only when you suggest that you see the sense of this little lot.

Fran Lavery Andrew A • May 12, 2020 at 20:20

Now this is getting very serious, Andrew. They have successfully injected us all with HeeBee-JeeBees-57! There is no way on earth people are going to be all wearing the same non-medical masks when they start opening up (now some are talking July or August) for air travel or sporting events. What is the purpose of wearing masks to the places people meet in any sizable amount of numbers? There are all kinds of fabric masks and there are a number of filters with a range of protection some completely useless. Who is going to line up for hours ahead of a flight to have their mask filter checked out. Nobody has that kind of cheap manpower, unless it's another job Americans won't do. The micromanaging is what will ultimately drive people to the brink. The shutdown and shutting people up just can't go on much longer. People need to work and eat, and they don't get satisfaction being isolated from society. Eighty thousand have already died in the US from this since it began. We've been thus far listening to Dottore Fauci. People really think we should continue to heed his advice? What if 90% of the eighty thousand who died could've been saved had we listened to someone else's advice? Well, we will never know now and that's what's driving the country crazy. Everything seems to be falling into the green dealers' grand vision for us. This is no coincidence. They knew back in October this bat virus was loose. For heaven's sake my dental hygienist told me January 10th when I went in for a cleaning her entire office knew it was around since October. WtF?!

Andy Fran Lavery • May 12, 2020 at 22:14

Walt will be just fine as soon as the mushrooms wear off...MMM...sauteed with the cattle medium rare on the grill...

Fran Lavery Â Andy • May 12, 2020 at 22:37

At least if I die under house arrest, Andy, I'm gonna die laughing. Thanks for that one:)

Thomas Ryan • May 12, 2020 at 14:38

Obama is inarticulate and a legal moron. Being charged with perjury does not lead to incarceration. One must be found guilty before punishment can be imposed.

Walt Trimmer • May 12, 2020 at 14:29

I was listening along chuckling at points and then you came to the Australian police and my blood boiled. How could those coppers let that 4 year old get away with disturbing the peace with all that wailing, interfering in a policeman's duties, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer? All they did was turn him over to a relative and inform Family Services. That little hellion could go on a kill an elderly Aussie!

And the mother, It's always a beautician!

Segnes Schonken Walt Trimmer • May 12, 2020 at 17:10

Your antic mood is a many-splendoured thing, W. I pray that you won't be talked into taking anything for it.

Fran Lavery Segnes Schonken • May 12, 2020 at 18:33

We should write our version of the current plague year while we wait this one out. Laura's Links is going to make a gripping time capsule for future generations.

Segnes Schonken Fran Lavery • May 13, 2020 at 16:04

So too the MSC articles, shows and discussions, F., as long as the reader doesn't mind a certain bias - and enjoys a good chuckle. But the facts are largely there.

Fran Lavery Â Segnes Schonken • May 13, 2020 at 18:58

Sure, unless The Machine Stops!

Brian from Minneapolis • May 12, 2020 at 13:49

Breaking news Mark. Seems that the Wuhan lab where the outbreak originated may have happened as early as October. Cell phone tracking noticed activity around the lab ceased for a few weeks. Three months of cover up by China equals three months plus of shutdown and death for the rest of us.

Mark replies:

I did, in fact, mention that on the show, Brian.

Brian from Minneapolis Brian from Minneapolis • May 12, 2020 at 14:03

Was soo proud of myself for bringing it up too. I feel foolish right now.

Fran Lavery Â • May 12, 2020 at 13:17

Great show once again! The child being torn from the mom at a protest was very distressing to hear. I like the point made about the tone of these wanker cops not being consistent with a policy that aims to eventually loosen up the restrictions but rather like something that intends to keep lockdown a more permanent policy. That's exactly right. It doesn't feel right anymore. We're feeling suffocated with all this fake concern for our safety.

I liked LRC's suggestion of "I Don't Get Around Much Anymore," Just caught our Governor giving the same old tired public service announcement, today, going on eight weeks of the economic shut down here: "Stay at Home." "Help Keep Us Safe"! You would think it wouldn't be that big a deal for the Gov. to get on the radio and talk to the people and let us hear a live human voice giving a little sliver of hope even if it were suggesting incremental steps. It has been the identical recorded message going on two months now.And what can citizens do when they ask what can they do to help: "Vote from Home"! We can go online and order a ballot to be mailed in or vote online. No possibility of fraud there!

Kate Smyth Fran Lavery Â • May 13, 2020 at 13:23

"I like the point made about the tone of these wanker cops not being consistent with a policy that aims to eventually loosen up the restrictions but rather like something that intends to keep lockdown a more permanent policy. That's exactly right. It doesn't feel right anymore. We're feeling suffocated with all this fake concern for our safety."

Exactly right indeed, Fran - including your point about "safety".

Fran Lavery Â Kate Smyth • May 13, 2020 at 13:54

Kate, this is Nanny State on steroids. This is about finally getting rid of President Trump. This is about the Left getting all they ever wanted in a newly reshaped, restructured society.

May they eat their own! May they self-destruct in the process of bringing us all down! They deserve nothing less.

Take good care of yourself down in Oz!

Andrew A • May 12, 2020 at 12:55

Mark,

There seems to be much angst about the "new normal", particularly the normalized suppression of non-essential travel, entertainment, restaurants, occupations, and of course, people.

This angst and anger is justified, but could we be missing something in the fog of nostalgia for the ante-Corona world of 2019? I've found that hardship often brings out the worst in some people, but it can bring out the best in others.

If the problem with our civilization is its comfortably decadent obsession with post-civilizational absurdities like climate change and gender fluidity, how is it possible to reverse this trend without some hardship and scandal?

Western civilization and culture were not born in the arms of convenience and luxury, but it seems we irrationally expect it to regenerate itself in such an environment.

Calvert Whitehurst • May 12, 2020 at 09:03

My favorite Obama-ism whenever he spoke ex tempore was to refer to any group of people as "a whole bunch-a folks." But at least his trouser creases were always razor-sharp even if his wit and articulateness are seriously overrated by his many admirers. Still, beneath his semi-genial exterior is a shrewd political tactician. One of his first acts as president was to ask for the resignation of every U.S. attorney - to replace them with attorneys of his choosing. And if Biden is elected, we can expect that again, which will bring any criminal prosecutions in the investigation of the FBI-DOJ abuse of power to a screeching halt. That is, of course, the big advantage Democrats enjoy as the party of government - a huge reserve of attorneys and activists available to fill every cabinet, sub-cabinet slot requiring Senate confirmation and every Schedule C appointed position to run the federal government - a task made easier because the career civil servants are also Democrats.

Veronica L • May 12, 2020 at 02:51

I love that tiger picture, they are such beautiful and mysterious beasts, easily the most interesting of the big cats I think. On the subject of former president Barack Obama, it never ceases to amuse me that he is renowned as a great orator. Listening to him drone on about Flynn and the 'rule of law', he takes an absolute age to get through even one sentence and most of what he does manage to say is comprised of "ummm" and "ahhh" interspersed with long pauses. Perhaps instead of being a brilliant orator he was simply a good actor with a talent for hitting the right lines at the right time? Speaking without notes is clearly not his thing. No doubt we will see a lot of him in the coming months, and Mrs Obama too, as more of the truth of the Russia Hoax is revealed. It is imperative for them and their fellow hoaxers that they drag Joe Biden across the finishing line now more than ever.

Greg the Kiwi Veronica L • May 12, 2020 at 03:31

I have always viewed him as a puppeteer, pulled above by his contributeers, he has had few words of his own , but maybe with recent revelations and his rather odd public arrogant comments , he may become exposed
Always observed his affected body stance , he thinks he's important but history will observe he was not

Fran Lavery Â Greg the Kiwi • May 12, 2020 at 08:28

That's true, yeah, the puppet and his peers, with few words of their own. When people lie you know because there's a ingrained sense of what's authentic and what's not. Not because we're all expert orators but we know just because we know. That's the way we are.

There was this little book called, Blink, out about fifteen or so years ago. The Getty bought this beautiful Ancient Greek sculpture, I think, and everyone oohed and ahhed and it was supposed to be highlighted as one really exquisite acquisition. Then someone saw that something was not right about it, too perfect perhaps, (not recalling exact details here) and it turned out to be a very good copy, but it wasn't authentic which is what they though they bought. Nothing that comes out of Obama's mouth sounds authentic, nothing real, nothing that relates to humanity. Can't put my finger on why so many think he was the next savior. He's that good a phony.

Andrew A Veronica L • May 12, 2020 at 11:45

I barely recognized the voice of Obama on the show: it sounded too human to be him. But what do I know? I've never understood him at all. My most poignant Obama moment was eating in Buzz's Steakhouse in Kailua, Oahu. We (Canadian tourists) were seated at a tiny table at the back. Hearing a loud flush through the wall in the adjacent toilet, I turned and noticed a brass plaque next to my elbow proudly commemorating Barack and Michelle's visit to that very spot year or so earlier (2013?). My first instinctive thought was, "If this is where they seated Obama, their native born son, where did they seat Bush?" In that moment, I realized that not only did I find Obama incomprehensible, but a large portion of the US electorate.

My contempt for our primal minstrel Justin Trudeau exceeds that of Obama, but at least I can peg the type: Justin is a moistly-speaking Montreal metrosexual. But Obama made me think that David Icke might have a point about alien lizard people controlling world government.

Al Man from CA Greg the Kiwi • May 12, 2020 at 12:25

Right Greg, the first time I saw him posing I thought of Mussolini.

Steven Payne • May 11, 2020 at 21:40

Siegfried and Roy were a cut above the characters in the "Tiger King" documentary, but just a very thin cut, in my opinion. What is it with weirdos who want to make money playing with tigers?

Todd Lewis • May 11, 2020 at 20:03

Obama's musings on the rule of law are of the same nature as Bill Clinton's comments on what the meaning of is is. Of course Obama is not technically lying. To him, if you have power what you say and what you want is what the law is. He wouldn't recognize the Constitution if someone smacked him in his Dumbo ears with it. Neither does the rule of law extend to legitimate legislative action. Only the rulings of entrenched political activist bureaucrat class count as genuine law. You can't argue words with these people because they only mean what they say they mean. Let's hope the real rule of law actually catches up with these charlatan traitors.

Also, Mark must have said something really controversial a few weeks back because my web browser refuses to remember only this site. Must be required social distancing by some speech monitor.

Fran Lavery Todd Lewis • May 11, 2020 at 23:01

I'm just going to start calling Obama and his ilk, perverts, not in the sense of sex perverts but truth perverts. I used to say, way back when, oh, two weeks ago, in world economic shut down time (WESDT), the start of which now seems like eons ago, that there was an hierarchy of perverts: sex perverts followed by ordinary joe-blow-it-out-the-arse-hole perverts, but now I think I'll just lump them all in the same circle of hellfire together. Perverts! All perverts they are. (This shut down is really getting me Irish up and I believe it may not be good for my health). I think I've had just about all I can take of them. Perverted lying sacks of $h:t, the entire bunch of them.

Greg the Kiwi Fran Lavery • May 12, 2020 at 03:57

Go Fran , nothing wrong with yr Irish , isn't this how we are all feeling , we are sick of all the bollocks of bleeding politics and the absolute fake pretend crap that spews from these leftist charlatans , but the world is going to change because this whole shutdown has exposed supposed experts as knowing nothing more than we do
But I suspect we will no longer pull punches and we just pray the conservatives in power don't pull their punches too!

Brian from Minneapolis Fran Lavery • May 12, 2020 at 07:48

If there's a movie that would describe our situation it would be "The Poseidon Adventure" and I'm talking about the 1972 one. We're all in a ship that is about to sink yet we're surrounded by fools that think that all we have to do is wait and someone will rescue us.

Brian from Minneapolis Fran Lavery • May 12, 2020 at 07:55

I thought about it and its more like "Titanic" since the virtue signaling crowd that tells us we're all going to die if we don't comply have found their lifeboats while the rest of us are expected to go down with the ship.

Fran Lavery Â Brian from Minneapolis • May 12, 2020 at 08:39

I saw a hundreds of little bits of that movie but never saw the entire film. Believe it or not, I don't how it starts or ends as I was selling popcorn and candy at a movie theater and had to man the booth at the beginning and close out the cash register before the end. I had many chances to watch the entirety but I was kind of sick of seeing it by then. Yes, we're closer to The Titanic, Brian. I guess we'll know better by November.

Segnes Schonken Fran Lavery • May 12, 2020 at 08:51

Spoken from the heart, F., and I agree with the substance of your charge. The thing is, Mr Obama and his following have stock answers ready for anything which can be said of them - you know, the racist-bigot-whateverphobe mantra. I think that, if he can't be imprisoned (and the grounds would have to be strong, for otherwise he'll be eternally celebrated as a martyr), then he must be consigned to oblivion. That would be justified anyway: he accomplished nothing of historical moment. Even his hugest mis-steps, such as licensing the construction by Iran of nuclear weapons, will only bear their poisonous fruit long after his departure. But I think that he is an egomaniac, and the cruellest punishment which could be inflicted upon him, short of the ignominy of a prison sentence for clear-cut criminality, would be to be forgotten, or recalled only as an historical nonentity.

So, if you permit, I offer an amendment: irrelevant, insignificant perverted lying sack of $h:t, a resident of the oubliette of history.

Should have his fans chewing glass, too. Should be fun. I think I'll take that line outside these boards. Here, I think I'll speak freely of him as being probably just another criminal son of a thousand insalubrious fathers who eluded justice in his lifetime.

Brian from Minneapolis Fran Lavery Â • May 12, 2020 at 09:31

Hopefully, but the only way to end this quickly is to make these pricks work for free until they solve this. No paychecks until we see a way out and I don't want to hear that they need to be paid. Millions aren't getting paid. I'm still waiting to get my first unemployment check due to "issues" in my application that I had to discuss with my employer and according to my employer they've done all they could. I hope they're not denying benefits or delaying them by seeing what political views they're showing but it wouldn't surprise me if they are. My brother got his stimulus check though my mom, dad, and myself are still waiting. Hell, I'm still waiting for the enhanced ID that I renewed back in February.

Todd Lewis Fran Lavery • May 12, 2020 at 09:56

I'll tell you Fran, every time an Obama soundbite is on the radio or the TV, I dive for the volume control. I can't bear to listen to him.

Fran Lavery Â Todd Lewis • May 12, 2020 at 10:59

Same here, it was just like Bill Clinton. I must have acute perception for big creeps; I usually turn the tv off or switch channels when either of them appear. They both are as fake as they come. It was hard to avoid them totally as they both had their eight-year day in the spotlight. They both have a presumptive air that people worship them. The way they conducted themselves in the White House was unforgivable. The Benghazi attack was just about the worst case of a Commander-in-Chief exhibiting a total delinquency while on duty that I can ever recall in my life.

Fran Lavery Â Brian from Minneapolis • May 12, 2020 at 11:04

The kicker is hearing stories of people who already received their checks and get more than they got paid on the job so their bosses are now not able to complete a vetting phase of their construction project; or people who apply for unemployment when they weren't in an area that got shut down but who make more collecting unemployment benefits and their $600 check. Harassing some office every day is the only avenue you have to making sure it gets to you, I guess. What a disaster!

Fran Lavery Â Segnes Schonken • May 12, 2020 at 12:40

Not sure how that comment of mine got in, must've been having my o'bummer nightmares again. I guess you can tell how much he rattles people's chains by that recent uh, comment, uh, that uh, he made uh. As Joe Corn Pop said, we'll put y'all back in chains, the rattlin' kind, I guess. They've succeeded.

Brian from Minneapolis Fran Lavery Â • May 12, 2020 at 15:31

I feel your pain.

Fran Lavery Â Brian from Minneapolis • May 12, 2020 at 16:10

"Vetting" was a typo, I meant 'the next phase.' We were actually the lucky ones who were allowed to stay up and running. Things just came to a screeching halt when the rock wall guys suddenly stopped showing up for work. Only pain here is watching what's happening to the good people who were on the edge to begin with all fall apart as you hear their checks never came in. Then others, always the same people, don't waste a day because they know how to game the system. Every day, this catastrophe feels more and more by design to be hurting good people. People are losing their marbles. Look what's happened to Walt.

Segnes Schonken Fran Lavery Â • May 12, 2020 at 16:41

You go for it, F. I'm laughing still, fierce lady. You're among friends, and these are very trying times.

Andy Fran Lavery • May 12, 2020 at 22:35

Every spellchecker's autocorrect is different but I've never had one change Biden to blow.

Andy Greg the Kiwi • May 12, 2020 at 22:38

Nothing says "I'm not an expert, but I play one on TV" like Faucci in self-isolation.

Elizabeth B. • May 11, 2020 at 18:38

I think Obama was really missing his teleprompter!

Andy Elizabeth B. • May 12, 2020 at 22:48

What...um...uh..do...uh...um...you...er...uh...mean?

Ian Cory • May 11, 2020 at 18:01

Re the Monday Mohammed; According to Scottsdale 'Presidents Cabinet' member Ms Eudicello; if Professor Damask wished to raise the topic of Islamic terror in future he would need to meet with an Islamic scholar to review the content. Perhaps Professor Damask might nominate the eminent and highly knowledgeable Islamic scholar Rober B. Spencer.

Kate Smyth Ian Cory • May 13, 2020 at 13:34

Great suggestion. Great man.

Owen Morgan • May 11, 2020 at 17:35

No "muslim scholar" (which is a scholar of islam, rather than a scholar who happens to be muslim) is ever going to acknowledge islam's links to terrorism. Not only is it very unusual for any muslim to condemn terrorist crimes, but, in islam, terrorism, like murder and blasphemy, is a crime committed by non-muslims against muslims. The muslim attitude to the far more numerous atrocities committed by muslims is "It's not terrorism, if we do it." This presumably explains how muslims can make death threats in defence of islam's non-violence. All the penalties for not respecting islam, or taking it at its own self-worth, are in the koran, I assume, which means that they are covered by the ridiculous myth that the book is the word of allah. The deity doesn't commit crimes, or order his followers to do so. If muslims kill non-muslims, that's not terrorism or murder and the infidels had it coming, anyway.

It's a cast-iron certainty that any scholar given the opportunity to vet Professor Damask's curriculum would reflect this belief, rendering the whole process otiose. The professor is not likely to be in any big hurry to want to make new muslim acquaintances, in any case, but, even if he did go through with this farce, only complete submission (what "islam" means, after all) could conceivably get past the censor. Then, too, since Professor Damask is not muslim, he could be accused of blasphemy for accurately repeating what is in the koran. And we know what islam prescribes for "blasphemers."

Kate Smyth Owen Morgan • May 13, 2020 at 13:33

"This presumably explains how muslims can make death threats in defence of islam's non-violence."

Well said. Unfortunately, Professor Damask, Mark Steyn and Owen Morgan are amongst a dwindling few prepared to state the obvious.

Marie • May 11, 2020 at 16:47

Another reason to do away with a two and a half month "transition" is the nefarious refugee swap between the Obama Administration and your commonwealth cousins in Australia!

Dan • May 11, 2020 at 16:17

"They may not have designed it but they certainly weaponized it." and " You could not have designed something better to destroy what was left of the [ no longer manufacturing ] economy. " Awesome.

Leo VT • May 11, 2020 at 15:26

Non essential. The deplorable of 2020. And if you dare go out, you're a granny murderer.

Paul Harmon • May 11, 2020 at 14:57

Mark, you have to release your Engelbert Humperdink song as a single. Great stuff.

Michael Cavino Paul Harmon • May 11, 2020 at 15:18

Make it a Double A-side single with "Kung Flu Fighting"!

J C • May 11, 2020 at 14:17

Mark, for the first few notes of your song, I thought it was Engelbert Humperdinck.

Barbara Olson • May 11, 2020 at 13:14

As bits of unethical and illegal activity during the Obama Administration continue to bubble out of the swamp, I impatiently await a good book on his administration. Just the facts, skipping the adulation. I'm one of those anxious, sequestered seniors and I can't wait too long!

Josh Passell Barbara Olson • May 11, 2020 at 14:25

Long may you live, Barbara, but with the flock of eunuchs waddling about the Fourth Estate these days, I don't think any of us will survive to read such a book. Borrowing from his missus, in the unlikely event such a book is ever envisioned, written, and published, it should be called Unbecoming.In the clip Mark played, did any president ever sound so--G-d strike me down for saying so--inarticulate? Spit it out, man, I wanted to scream! It's not Hungarian. He made Biden sound coherent by comparison. If I could give him credit for a conscience, I would wonder if he was tripping over the shamelessness of his words. As the Most Successful Illinois State Senator Ever (prove me wrong), he gets high marks for making something of himself, spending his post-presidential career hoovering up any money the Clintons left behind (to say nothing of Chicago parkland), and I say good for him. But he has been nowhere on the political scene since brushing the dust of DC off his loafers (better make that brogues--ed). Until now. What do you suppose so exercised Obama to break off from having Bill Ayers write his memoirs (vol. 3) and stammer his way back into the public eye? Could it be the same instinct that roused James Comey on Twitter to rally the "career people" at the DOJ to stay? Are the walls of justice closing in? Mother of mercy, is this the end of RICO investigations?

Brawndo Barbara Olson • May 11, 2020 at 20:36

A book on Obama's administration? LOL! Nobody can get a look at his college transcripts! How are they going to be able to research his administration?

VA citizen • May 11, 2020 at 13:04

Dear Mark,

Regarding your twilight of the West discussion... I am a father a bunch children, 2 of whom are boys. I am a conservative and a lover of our military... but I would not want my boys to fight for the US in a war, especially any conflicts across the globe. Why should they? So some moron from the paper of record can have the children of the next generation read that 1619 project junk at the public schools... or so some older bearded guy can use a bathroom with my daughters or granddaughters after claiming to be a woman... or so a duly elected president can have his presidency undermined by a bunch of unelected career bureaucrats and have no one who matters care? My feelings seem like a bad sign. And if I'm against my sons fighting for the US, imagine how any like-minded parent in Europe must feel...

Dave Gorak VA citizen • May 11, 2020 at 13:14

I'm a veteran who wonders why so many "Americans" get weepy on Memorial Day, fly the flag on the Fourth and thank veterans on November 11 but refuse to participate in their own democracy. The more than 1 million young men and women who have died for this country since its founding begs the question: What the hell was it all for?

RAC Dave Gorak • May 11, 2020 at 16:32

We'll soon find out it was all for nothing - at least as it applies to the rapidly approaching dystopian future. Watch CNN or MSNBC for one evening or read the NYT or just about any newspaper in the country for a glimpse of what awaits America. The now all powerful social media giants are censoring conservative thought at will and spewing pure hard left propaganda without any fear of consequences or push back from the ever timid right. What began on election day 2008 has metastasized to an extent I never thought possible. Even if Trump prevails in Nov. it will only delay the inevitable. Sorry, but wishful thinking isn't one of my many faults. Excellent post Dave and as a Vietnam Vet I'm with you 100%.

Dave Gorak RAC • May 11, 2020 at 16:58

I'm afraid that you may be right re: "Our dystopian future." I'm a retired Chicago journalist who also wonders where the fundamental rules governing responsible news reporting have gone. I've been heavily involved with our federally-created immigration crisis where these rules have totally disappeared. During these past two decades, I have read hundreds of "sob-sister" stories about illegal aliens and their "search for a better life" and being "forced to live in the shadows. It's impossible not to come away from such stories with the impression that today's reporters and editors, most of whom can't spell critical thinking yet alone engage in it, are convinced that only the foreign-born are eligible to seek a better life here.

Walt Trimmer VA citizen • May 11, 2020 at 17:32

My 15 year old grandson told me he is interested in the military. I didn't know what to say. I want to encourage him but I have seen the modern military up close and I am scared. Maybe he could choose the Space Force.

Perry Pattetic Walt Trimmer • May 11, 2020 at 18:45

Walt, as a child of a British military family (father RN, uncle RAF) I have tremendous respect for the military, and almost joined the RN myself. The US military is a very different beast to the British, Australian and Kiwi forces though, and I would be horrified if my son joined the US meat-grinder. Perpetual war with no political goal to win, and an over-hyped "warrior" culture that makes transition to civvy street hard. I understand that this might upset US vets, but what is the point of joining up to make perpetual war? Should we not be fighting so that we can have peace? Peace, that is, for our own kith and kin, not to be followed home by those enemies to steal our future.

Brian from Minneapolis Perry Pattetic • May 12, 2020 at 02:53

"Is freedom worth fighting for anymore"? You never want to hear those words uttered from anyone who's served or think it but more and more it seems to be the case. Our nation is becoming more like Iraq: A people whom we freed from evil yet still chant "Death to America". This is all the fault of the left. They've taught that the success you have must be given to you by the state and if you achieve by any other means, you have screwed someone over. Takes me back to the Mark Steyn post: The War that Made the World we Live In. "A nation that has nothing to live for, has nothing to die for." An accurate quote for these times. Freedom isn't free and in a world where people want free things, they don't want to pay for something as costly as freedom.
And when it comes to perpetual wars. Globalists have changed the goal of our armed forces from winning wars and conflicts to just being conflict managers.

Jacob Shepherd Perry Pattetic • May 12, 2020 at 07:27

The US military is not a "meat-grinder" and is not advocating "perpetual war". Military members follow the orders of their civilian political authorities as mandated by Congress. And being a child of a British military family does not impart you with particular wisdom on the subject.

Brian from Minneapolis Jacob Shepherd • May 12, 2020 at 08:11

We should never compare our military to the neocons that use conflict as a means amassing wealth and power. How many soldiers have come back with missing limbs and PTSD? We're treating our military like game officials at a high school sporting event where they have to be yelled at and harassed by the parents because they don't like calls they're making that makes their children look bad.

Wayne Lanham VA citizen • May 12, 2020 at 10:20

More and more I find myself struggling with this sentiment. At this stage of the process, exactly what would a patriot be fighting for? The hope that the population may someday wake up from this left wing hypnosis and once again embrace true liberty? To appropriate one of Mark's favorite analogies, I'm not sure that is the particular hill I want to die on.

Perry Pattetic Jacob Shepherd • May 12, 2020 at 12:32

No, it does not give me wisdom, but I do speak from experience. As for the meat grinder, take a look around a VA facility.

Perry Pattetic Brian from Minneapolis • May 12, 2020 at 12:33

Yup.

Robert Bridges Perry Pattetic • May 12, 2020 at 12:50

I humbly suggest rereading British history. "Meat grinder" and "warrior culture"....look no further than Imperial Britain or The Great War. England is now reduced to a historical theme park after the U.S. picked up after Britain in extending the "Pax Britannica" into "Pax Americana". Or do you prefer English as a second language to German, Russian and now Chinese or Arabic?

Jeff Johnson Dave Gorak • May 12, 2020 at 13:22

Dave, thank you for your service to our country and I understand your questioning the worthiness of serving. The point of serving was to preserve our republic and provide liberty for our progeny. I believe that no matter what historical period of the USA you might observe, the military always has and always will have issues. Part of the problem is that the military is managed by fallen individuals. Another more recent problem is our conflation or confusion of the function of the military with the function of police. I have had several students go into the military after graduating from high school. From comparing them with my own sons that did not serve in the military, I believe that one value of the military is that it is or was a much better process than college in transforming our males from adolescents into adults. The college and the university are now designed to keep our children perpetual adolescents as they are easier to mold and control into collective voting blocks.I do take exception in your complaint that so few participate in their own democracy. I do not want a single citizen participating in democracy. I do; however, want all citizens to participate in our constitutional republic through voting, serving in the military, serving temporarily in government, working and paying taxes, and living righteously or less dependent on government. The fallacy that we have a democracy has transformed our republic into dysfunctional and despotic democratic governments. On a federal level, we have a Legislature that has abdicated its legislative powers to the Executive and Judicial branches. We have an Executive branch, through the bureaucracy, that legislates, executes, and adjudicates. We have a Judicial branch that legislates and adjudicates ignoring original intent. Our "democracy" will end by cannibalizing itself, which we are witnessing before our eyes.

Perry Pattetic Robert Bridges • May 12, 2020 at 15:51

WW1 - no argument from me.Theme park - no argument from me. Pax - The British were building an empire and had a global vision, as opposed to the myopia after Suez.
Warrior culture - Warriors make war. Soldiers/Sailors/Airmen fight wars and then go home, get a job.
Imperial - Britain ran an empire with 2000 civil servants and a bunch of defensive garrisons, largely manned by locals (similar to the Romans).
America is founded on the antithesis of empire.Why the hell is the USA fighting in Afghanistan and 146 other countries? John McCain is dead - let's bury the endless wars with him and put troops on the borders with Mexico and Canada.The USA is just footing the bill for everyone else, in blood and treasure and broken American families. They get Pax, we get stuffed.

Fran Lavery Â Jeff Johnson • May 12, 2020 at 20:40

Good comment, and also the Legislative Branch has relegated much of what it used to do to bureaucrats in other agencies, not to mention handing their homework off to staffers. How many times have we heard a bill had so many pages the Congressmen had no time to read it. Staffers do that and often carry much more of the workload. We probably don't know half of it.

Andy Robert Bridges • May 12, 2020 at 23:19

Better yet, Britain in Afghanistan the first time around! I can't speak for the "boots on the ground " but have worked with hundreds of US Navy, active duty and veterans, and they keep the world's shipping lanes open, are first on the scene after any tsunami, earthquake or hurricane, launch most of the aircraft needed to keep the Middle East marginally functional and the occasional 100+ Tomahawk's when Obama needs to add another nation to the tally of those that essentially made up Trump's travel ban. Anchors aweigh!

Segnes Schonken Perry Pattetic • May 13, 2020 at 18:50

P., I hesitate to add my voice to yours, lest I draw down upon our heads another gang-bang from the PC police, so I'll confine myself to saying that I cannot see how the argument against your points will be sustained. In English, right with you, pal.

Perry Pattetic • May 11, 2020 at 12:28

After 9/11, US airline cabin crews started treating passengers like prisoners, aided and abetted by TSA gropers and "Federal Law". This is the model for western police going forwards - the police state now in place will be hard to roll back, and impossible to roll back without bloodshed. We need to stay armed against our para military police guards.
My sister in England thinks that the police are doing a good job. Many contacts there worship the NHS and think they are going to die if they go out. They are going to die - just probably not from the Wuhan virus and probably not now. But their freedoms are dying right now. If the police started herding British people into trains to be relocated to health camps, they would all go.

Jacob Shepherd Perry Pattetic • May 12, 2020 at 07:32

"After 9/11, US airline cabin crews started treating passengers like prisoners, aided and abetted by TSA gropers and "Federal Law".

US airline cabin crews are required to followed the regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration, they have no control or association with TSA.

Perry Pattetic Jacob Shepherd • May 12, 2020 at 12:36

Every flight in, to or from US airspace is covered by the FAA. The cabin crew on US airlines are monstrous. Mainly recruited from the State Penitentiary, I suspect.

Jacob Shepherd Perry Pattetic • May 12, 2020 at 18:44

Ignorant and slanderous, not a good combination. Every US airline follows procedures mandated by the FAA. If you don't like them, that is where to aim your bile.

Dave Gorak • May 11, 2020 at 12:02

Will one day do you think we'll ever see Obama totally discredited as a result of his involvement with the plot to undermine Trump? I know he will never wear an orange jump suit, but it would be great to see his legacy in terms of utter disgrace.

John Frey Dave Gorak • May 11, 2020 at 12:37

Not to wish any one ill, though, borrowing a term from our host, I can hope that the previous President and his Fauxbel Peace Prize will be sufficiently discredited so that my grandchildren will know him for what he is. An empty suit with nothing to show for his decades of privilege and living off the public teat.

Max Dublin Dave Gorak • May 11, 2020 at 14:22

You can hear it in Obama's voice when he was rallying his minions that he knew that what he did was wrong and they all knew it but did it anyway and the only thing they care about now is that the rest of their followers should never know it. Truth is a rather minor actor in the political arena but in the end it is just as important if not even more important than justice because as Hannah Arendt wrote years ago it is on the basis of what we believe to be true that we get our bearings in this world.

Steven Payne Dave Gorak • May 11, 2020 at 21:47

Dave, my answer to your question is: no.

Fran Lavery Max Dublin • May 12, 2020 at 09:00

I agree with this take on truth, Max. It's how we get our bearings in this world. Without it there is no possibility of understanding justice completely.

Max Dublin Fran Lavery • May 12, 2020 at 09:50

Not only of understanding justice, Fran, but even ever of getting to it. Getting after the truth of any matter is the indispensible preliminary act of determining a just outcome.

Fran Lavery Â Max Dublin • May 12, 2020 at 20:44

I guess that's what I meant to say, but you craft your words with more precision, Max. Good one!

Brian from Minneapolis • May 11, 2020 at 11:54

I think George Orwell said it best in this line from 1984: "The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better."